The tax reform working groups commissioned by House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp won’t produce landmark legislation, but they might create something equally important to an eventual Tax Code rewrite: trust. That’s the theory, at least. Lawmakers have been mulling a comprehensive overhaul of the Tax Code for years. But with Democrats accusing the GOP of sacrificing the… Read more

The fate of corporate tax reform — a goal shared by virtually everyone in Washington — is almost certainly linked to a far greater challenge: rewriting tax laws for individuals. That’s according to Elaine Kamarck, the Democratic co-chair of the RATE Coalition, a group of dozens of major companies that banded together in 2011 to press Congress and the White House to lower… Read more

Tax reform, at least in American politics these days, is generally discussed at only the most abstract level. There is general agreement that it would be nice to lower tax rates while broadening the base by getting rid of loopholes. The latter, of course, are seldom specified in any detail, and are very much in the eye of the beholder. If real tax change is ever to be adopted, we are… Read more

Workers, especially younger ones, have been surprised to see their pay checks shrink as the temporary payroll tax cut has gone away and they are again paying their full 6.2 percent of wages in order to fund Social Security.  To avoid further worsening Social Security’s financing challenges, under the law, the U.S. borrowed over $200 billion – in large part from foreign countries… Read more

Despite a fractious political environment, efforts in Congress to streamline and update the country’s labyrinthine tax system are quietly picking up steam, adding a twist to the ongoing debate over federal fiscal policy. Michigan Rep. Dave Camp, the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, last week released his second “discussion draft” related to a comprehensive… Read more

  Tameria Greene of Detroit should have celebrated her ninth birthday on January 2. Instead, her family was preparing for her funeral after she was fatally stabbed on December 30. Although the death of any child is tragic, Tameria's is especially heartbreaking. On her birthday, authorities charged her mother -- the very person who should have cared for her most -- with… Read more

Tomorrow the House will vote on a short-term debt limit extension tied to a requirement that the House and Senate each pass a budget resolution. Donald Marron has written an excellent and succinct substantive analysis of the bill. The House bill fits well with the strategy I advocated last week on this blog and in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. I hope the House passes it… Read more

  By Emily Maltby During her two-plus years in business, Elizabeth Turley has steadily recruited new employees for her apparel company, Meesh & Mia Corp., to keep pace with its rapid growth. But this year could be different. Instead of increasing her staff, she plans to hire independent contractors for tasks that can be outsourced, such as marketing… Read more

Many businesses plan to bring on more part-time workers next year, trim the hours of full-time employees or curtail hiring because of the new health care law, human resource firms say. Their actions could further dampen job growth, which already is threatened by possible federal budget cutbacks resulting from the tax increases and spending cuts known as the fiscal cliff. "It will… Read more

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